1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage system for rods which system includes a conveyor device and a crane system. The conveyor device is for feeding a rod into a working machine such as a cutting-off machine and the like, and in particular for supplying and discharging rods to and from at least one roller path for feeding the rods into the working machine. The conveyor device includes displaceable receiver means arranged at both sides of the roller path for conveying rods between a handling device of a stock of rods and the roller path. Such a conveyor device is especially provided for depositing the rods taken from a store of shelves onto the roller path which is preferably aligned with the cutting-off machine or a material removal station, and for picking up remaining pieces from the roller path to deliver these pieces again to the handling device of the stock of rods. Meanwhile, the crane system includes a load crossbeam means movable in the vertical direction for transporting bar material, and a load take-up means provided on the load crossbeam means.
2. Prior Art
DE-C-31 33 108 discloses a device for storing rod-shaped material and for supplying a cutting-off machine with this material. In this case the profiled rod material is deposited in a cantilever-type shelf system which consists of a plurality of shelves and which is handled via a gantry crane comprising a crane bridge movable over the shelves and a load crossbeam which is adapted to be vertically lowered between the shelves. A vertical carriage having roller paths arranged vertically one on top of the other is arranged on a shelf support in an area without shelves. A working position of the vertical carriage and thus the position of a roller path corresponds to the feed position for the rods to the cutting-off machine. While the material which is positioned on the roller path located at delivery level is being supplied to or worked by the cutting-off machine, the crane system deposits the rods to be worked in the next operation on the free roller path or takes the remaining material from the path to return it to the shelf system.
Such a solution, however, requires two drivable roller paths. Another roller path assigned to the machine system as well as corresponding separate drives must normally be provided here. Moreover, the device effects a relatively fixed relationship between the position of the cutting-off machine and the assembly of the shelves of the material store.
DE-A-38 17 745 discloses a device for feeding a working machine with rod-shaped material. In this publication the material is deposited by a vertical and horizontal endless conveyor with synchronously rotating conveyor means on a roller bed and is received and transported away by the roller bed and returned again to the crane system which cooperates with a material-storage shelf system.
With such a device, however, conveyor means which are respectively arranged vertically and horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the roller path in successive order must be arranged between the rollers of the roller bed and must additionally be matched in their position to the fork prongs of the crane bridge and the support arms of the shelf-type store. This might have an influence on the minimum length of the length of the rods that can be transported without problems.
Both the device according to DE-C-31 33 108 and the apparatus according to DE-A-38 17 745 have the great disadvantage that the respective roller path can only be supplied with material at one side by the conveyor device forming a quick-change station. In the case of a two-sided cantilever-type store, such a design calls for a respective rearrangement of the rods, so that the rods can be picked up by the fork prongs of the crane bridge or the load crossbeam of the gantry crane which face the conveyor device or quick-change station.
DE-C-29 25 469 discloses a device for storing rod-shaped material and for automatically supplying a cutting off machine with the material in program-controlled fashion, with a roller path being movable via a vertical carriage on a shelf support of the cantilever-type shelf system. A load crossbeam of the gantry crane which serves to operate the cantilever-type shelf system is provided for keeping ready successive material for the next operation above the vertical carriage which is in its working position and for lowering the material into the working position of the roller path when (after the end of the current working step) the vertical carriage is lowered together with the roller path to deposit the remaining material on a working carriage which is horizontally movable between two shelves. After having been returned into its operating position by the vertical carriage along the shelf support, the roller bed takes over the material held ready by the load crossbeam of the crane system which has been lowered into the operating position so as to continue the material supply to the cutting-off machine. The load crossbeam of the gantry crane is moved laterally and lowered to pick up the remaining material from the working carriage.
With such a solution, which is also troublesome from a constructional point of view, the lost times (material changing times) can, however, not be kept so small as would be desirable because the use of the load crossbeam of the crane system as an intermediate store considerably limits the flexibility of the whole material transporting process.
A conveyor device of the above-mentioned kind is known from DE-C-37 36 122. The lifting device is also arranged within a cantilever-type store between two shelf units and within an area which is free from cantilevers. The lifting device serves to transfer rods from a shelf to a roller path, and vice versa, in order to supply the rods, for instance, to a cutting-off machine. In this case, there are guides which extend at both sides next to the roller path obliquely upwards away from the path and along which carriages are movable that carry horizontally matching trays for the rods. Thus, the shelves can be moved between a lower end position in which the upper edges of the trays are below the support plane of the roller path, and an upper end position in which this upper edge is located above the support plane and laterally offset relative to the roller path.
Such a solution which is based on the principle of an inclined lift calls, however, for a relatively expensive support and drive construction for the carriages which are movable along the inclined guides. Moreover, the two trays at both sides of the roller path can first only be unloaded in an alternate way by the shelf handling device, such as the load crossbeam of a gantry crane system, and can then only be fed again with material, resulting in waiting times. After an upward movement of a tray with the remaining material into an upper transfer position to the gripper prongs of the load crossbeam of the gantry crane, the material must first be picked up by the load crossbeam and transported away before the next rods can be deposited on this tray. During this time the other tray which deposited rods were deposited on the roller path in the preceding cycle, remains below the roller bed of this roller path. Furthermore, a relatively great corridor width is required between the shelves for the accommodation of the apparatus because of the upwardly diverging position of the inclined guides, with the respective transfer position of the tray being at a considerable laterally distance from the roller path with respect to the shelf handling device.
Meanwhile, a conventional crane system for rods includes the following construction and disadvantages.
That is to say, as mentioned above, cantilever-type stores are conventionally used for storing bar material, which consist of a plurality of parallel shelves, which, in turn, comprise a row of support arms spaced in the main direction of extension of the shelves (shelf width) and extending preferably on both sides of the shelf stands at the shelf stands. The shelf stands form stock shelves for storing bar material of the same or different sections according to type of material, cross-sections of the sections, etc.
An aisle is formed between adjacent shelves for permitting a bar material to be transported therethrough. The removal of bars of material from the shelves and the redepositing of remaining material is carried out by means of a crane system which can be moved along rails provided on the longitudinal outer sides of the cantilever-type stores and extended in the direction perpendicular to the extension of the shelves.
The crane system includes a load crossbeam means, and a load take-up means provided on the lower end of the crossbeam means and in the form of fork prongs. The load take-up means can be lowered from the crossbeam means and moved into the aisles between the shelves and into the stock shelves of the shelves for the removal of the bar material. The bar material removed from the shelves may be delivered to a roller path disposed within the cantilever-type store between two shelves for delivering the bar material to a cutting machine or the like.
The load crossbeam is used at the same time to pick up a remaining piece of bar material from the roller path and to return it into a stock shelf. The supporting arms extending on both sides along the longitudinal axis on the lower end of the load crossbeam can advantageously inserted between respective adjacent supporting arms of the shelves of the cantilever-type store, and engage with bottom surface of the bar material for Its removal or place it on the shelf support arms.
In such a handling device for a bar material store difficulties occur partly, if due to a distortion of the section or due to an oblique depositing of the bar material deposited in the shelves of the cantilever-type store, a simultaneous gripping with all fork-prong supporting arms of the load cross beam is difficult. Moreover, there are partly difficulties in handling relatively short bars of material which are disposed axially aligned in a stock shelf of a shelf.